Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
Considering where he started, finishing where he did was not bad for Yuki Tsunoda
Sunday was going to be a difficult day for Yuki Tsunoda at the Belgian Grand Prix.
With Visa Cash App RB F1 Team making many changes to his RB01, including replacing components beyond the number allotted to each driver throughout a single season, Tsunoda was hit with a staggering 60-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. Given that there are only 20 cars on the grid, that meant that no matter where he qualified on Saturday, he was starting at the back of the field.
Despite starting 20th, Tsunoda managed to pick up a few spots on the track, and finished the race 17th. When George Russell was disqualified after his W15 failed to measure in at the minimum weight required by the regulations, Tsunoda was promoted to 16th.
While he did not know that when he spoke with the official F1 channel, and still believed he finished 17th, he offered an incredible description of what he was able to accomplish at Spa.
“Considering I started from Zandvoort I think ending up P17 is not bad,” said Tsunoda.
For reference Zandvoort is the site of the Dutch Grand Prix, the next stop on the Formula 1 schedule following the summer shutdown. Curious minds might want to know the distance between Zandvoort and Spa, the site of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.
According to trusty Google Maps there are 296 kilometers between those two circuits.
“Just the whole race, we didn’t have pace overall,” continued Tsunoda. “Hopefully we can sort it out. Throughout the week this week I was struggling a lot.”
Tsunoda might have been struggling off the track, but his description of his starting place on Sunday might have been the best answer of the week.
